Are the people of Miami ready for the Big One? (Hialeah: appointed, how much)

[Chelito23]

I think a lot of people are actually drawn to Miami BECAUSE of hurricanes. So I doubt the threat scares others off anymore than a quake would to a potential LA resident. But that's just my opinion.

Look at all the storm chasers nowadays, I think a lot of people want to live in an areas prone to hurricanes or extreme natural weather and disasters because it seems exciting or exotic to them. Also, you can prepare for these events if you are smart and they don't have to be catostrophic if you take precautions beforehand. Remember, hurricanes are a fascination for a lot of people, especially from other areas where they are less common...but with that said:

I also agree that we don't have a set period of times hitting the coast between storms. The general rule is this if you live here for a while: you will experience countless "brushes" with storms, tropical storms and weak hurricanes. You could live your whole life here and maybe only experience a handful of bad storms. Major storms like an Andrew are probably once in a life time events. Also, location is everything. Every storm is different, some are large, some are small, being on a weak side of a storm is different than the strong side...so all these variables have to be looked at.

I do agree that NE Miami Dade, Broward and PB counties are "overdue" for a larger storm making landfall on their coasts statistically...but this shouldn't be scary and that is just one type of hurricane threat. Many buildings in SoFla are built to withstand a Cat. 3. Even if a Cat. 4 hits FTL, it wouldn't be total devestation for the entire SE Coast.

I think nowadays fewer people evacuate only because there are so many people it really isn't possible. I think the people who you see evacuating when a storm is in the Bahamas are the people in trailer parks or on islands who go to the shelters when they open, which coincides with storms' arrivales in the Bahamas.

I remember Hurricane Floyd...they were saying it would turn and it did, but people were worried in case it didn't. I don't recall any mass evacuations in South Florida...I think people farthur up the coast were more worried because of it's size and if it didn't turn fast enough...but it was a scare for us for sure.

[LKJ1988]

Originally Posted by santiago33

I replaced my windows in the past few years, and as required by code I now have impact windows.

Can these really withstand any hurricane without additional protection? Are my french doors and and sliding doors impact, or are only actual "windows" required to be impact glass?

Evacuate Miami? I've never been told to evacuate the city during a hurricane. During hurricane Andrew we and the neighbors stayed put. I don't recall being under a "mandatory" evacuation order. My friend's father even stayed at his Key Colony apartment in Key Biscayne!

Your whole house would be blown away if a CAT were to hit your area. Windows would be the last thing on my mind.

The question is, is the Tampa area ready if a CAT5 comes up the pipe from the southwest gulf. Last onshore bound real storm to hit the Tampa area was in 1921.

[cixcell]

I know I wanted to experience a hurricane since third grade doing book reports on them. Finally got my chance in 2005. I was absolutely fascinated with andrew when i first moved here. talked to anyone i could about it. i would pay good money if you could send me back in time 2 days before it hit.

[valicky]

I found the 2005 storms were an inconvenience. 1992 storm was a major PITA!!!

[cixcell]

valicky: always have to one up the post-1992 people =P

classic old school miamian response to any hurricane since

*adjusts shirt* "well... you weren't around for ANDREW"

=P

[WellShoneMoon]

I lived off Kendall Drive during Andrew, and as scary as the storm itself was, the six weeks afterwards were just hell. Some people didn't get their electricity back on for 10 days or two weeks -- and the storm was at the end of August, so imagine how hot it was without A/C. I had friends who lived off Miller Drive who had no electricity, but for some reason the McDonalds did have power, so my friends walked there for hot coffee.

No power means no traffic lights, and Miami people are not good drivers at the best of times, never mind when there are no traffic lights. Four-way stop? Don't make me laugh. There sprung up a cadre of very brave individuals who voluntarily stood in the intersections, directing traffic. I was very grateful to them.

People shot people in arguments over a bag of ice. Looting was rampant, seemingly everyone was armed and dangerous. It took forever to bring some semblance of order to the area.

So no, I don't look upon hurricanes as adventures.

[tallrick]

Hurricane Andrew was awesome because it gave me time with my parents and Miami friends, and allowed me to build my first wood powered generator. Three weeks without power for the neighborhood but I was enjoying electricity 4 days after the storm. Even better I got to meet people from other states who came down to work here, and got to make extra money hauling away debris. My home was out of the disaster zone so that was another positive. The best part was how a friend living in leisure city (the hardest hit area) had no damage to his home because it was one of the concrete box homes built in the 50's. Another friend in Goulds took shelter in the illegal shed we had built out of poured concrete. While his home was destroyed, insurance paid for a new one, and he did not have to deal with the problems of the old dump anymore. The only bad part of hurricane Andrew was taking shelter in my parent's home and not knowing if the home would hold up. At least if I have to stay with them I rebuilt the Florida room with a poured concrete roof and columns so it's the hurricane shelter. My preference will be to load up my parents in the van along with a few important possesions and drive to my place when the big one heads for Florida.

[cixcell]

Originally Posted by WellShoneMoon

I lived off Kendall Drive during Andrew, and as scary as the storm itself was, the six weeks afterwards were just hell. Some people didn't get their electricity back on for 10 days or two weeks -- and the storm was at the end of August, so imagine how hot it was without A/C. I had friends who lived off Miller Drive who had no electricity, but for some reason the McDonalds did have power, so my friends walked there for hot coffee.

No power means no traffic lights, and Miami people are not good drivers at the best of times, never mind when there are no traffic lights. Four-way stop? Don't make me laugh. There sprung up a cadre of very brave individuals who voluntarily stood in the intersections, directing traffic. I was very grateful to them.

People shot people in arguments over a bag of ice. Looting was rampant, seemingly everyone was armed and dangerous. It took forever to bring some semblance of order to the area.

So no, I don't look upon hurricanes as adventures.

i remember in 2005 after wilma we were living in the venetia gardens complex off speedway. we would frequently go down palm into florida city. well, after wilma the traffic signal in that first intersection after the turnpike ends we were trying to cross and the signal was completely out in all directions and people with ford f350s were flying north on us-1 at full speed pulling big boats behind them and we had to cross. scary stuff!

now that i think of it what WERE they doing taking the boats north immediately after the winds had died down? were they stealing them? i cant imagine why anyone would want to move a boat right then.

[valicky]

Originally Posted by cixcell

valicky: always have to one up the post-1992 people =P

classic old school miamian response to any hurricane since

*adjusts shirt* "well... you weren't around for ANDREW"

=P

Not trying to one up. Just want everyone to know that the 2005 storms were not BIG ones. They were inconveniences. People who weren't here for Andrew but were for the 2005 storms may think a "big one" won't be that bad since they went through 3 in 2005. They just were no where near as intense as Andrew was, at least, where I live in West Kendall. The worst thing about Wilma was the widespread power outages, which in my opinion, was also a great thing. Loved those skies after Wilma! We got a cold front right afterwards too so it wasn't even hot like the oppressiveness we had after Andrew.
We not only had no power for 3 weeks after Andrew, we had extremely low water pressure. The traffic was like nothing I've ever seen. It wold take at least an hour and a half to get to my in-laws on Bird Rd. National Guard had to come in and you had to show ID to get into certain areas. Living with huge piles of garbage that took months to get picked up. Trick or treating sure was different that year.
In 2005, I was fascinated during the storms. In 1992 I was terrified. I'd prefer not to relive that if possible.

[JayDeee]

Originally Posted by cixcell

I was absolutely fascinated with andrew when i first moved here.

Same here! First couple of years I lived here I hardly ever went south of Kendall Dr or anywhere in South Dade, but the handful of times I did all I would think about was the wrath of Andrew. I would spot office buildings and other locations I had remembered from videos and pictures of the disaster.
Katrina hit South Florida six months after I moved to Miami and then it hit New Orleans and I obsessed over hurricanes for a while. You didn't have to live in Florida in 2005 to obsess over them, that hurricane season grabbed the world's attention.